Keeping the Body Beautiful
(Kundalini Yoga Manual, Student Manual of Instruction as Taught by Yogi Bhajan, Master of Kundalini Yoga, Edited by Rama Kirn Singh, pp. 4-5)
Sit in Easy Pose. Begin breathing long and deep through the nostrils. Focus on the life-giving flow of breath for 3 minutes. Then inhale, hold the breath a few seconds and relax the breath.
Frog Pose. Begin in a standing position. Squat down. The balls of the feet are on the ground, touching each other. The hands are on the ground between the knees, the spine is straight and the knees are spread wide apart. Press the chin in and down without extending the neck far forward. Put the chin firmly into the cavity at the top of the breastbone where the collar bones meet.
Inhale deeply as you rise up. Raise the buttocks high by straightening the legs. Stay up on the toes with the hands still on the ground and the head on the torso and down. Exhale completely as you come down to the original squatting position.
Repeat Exercise 2 ten times and on the tenth, stay down and take three deep breaths. On the third breath exhale completely and hold the breath out as you apply Mulbandh (Root Lock). Feel the energy rise along the spine. Hold the breath out 10-20 seconds, but do not strain.
Now repeat Exercise 2 twenty-six times, and, on the last time, stay down and take three deep breaths. On the third, hold the breath out and again apply Mulbandh (Root Lock).
Frog Pose stretches the entire spine. It is good for overall circulation. It strengthens the quads and energizes the sex nerve (on the inside of the thigh) and the life (sciatic) nerve. Use the standing knee/toe raises if you have problems with your knees.
Double Leg Front Stretch. Stretch both legs out in front of you straight. Reach out with the arms and catch the thigh, shin, ankle or foot. Keep the chin at a right angle to the chest. Stretch forward, leading with your chest and then down. Relax forward as you bend to hold the toes. Hold this position for 3 minutes.
Be careful with this exercise so that you do not over stretch the lower back or hamstrings. Double Leg Front Stretch stretches the life nerve. It is also good for the lower back, stretches the hamstrings and relaxes the quads. It is part of the liver series. It is one of several positions that place pressure on the lobes of the liver for cleansing and detoxification.
Comments:
The body is a temple of human expression and evolvement. We are often told by the media and friends that it wears out, has many illnesses and is extremely fragile. But that is not true. The body is sensitive and self-repairing. As Yogi Bhajan puts it:
“This beautiful body cannot be eaten by anything except your own ego. God doesn’t kill you.
There is no death except your own ego and your own negativity.
That reduces the voltage of your life force so your circumvent field becomes weak and death creeps into your body.
This body is beautiful.
It was made by a very special imagination of the Creator.”
Our own habits of possession, constriction, anger, tension and attachment set up energy patterns within the body that disrupt the normal flow of vital energy. This opens the door to disease, both physical and mental. After all, we are creators also and have some ability to create the environments we want to live in. We create our bodies with each thought and activity as well as with each meal. So we need to clean the body and readjust the flow of energy periodically since we are all products of our habits and since few of us are without ego.
This kriya, which is a slight variation of the standard Frog Pose, is very powerful. You must keep the chin locked in. It readjusts the sex energy and the balance of the prana and apana. It is good for digestion and brings circulation to the head. If done with powerful breaths it will make you sweat quickly.
People search for the experience of God, the experience of freedom, energy and consciousness. If we would only purify ourselves, then God would be known to us and come to live in us. That Infinite energy is the Giver in every situation. We recognize it by cleaning, caring and utilizing what we have already been given.